Helpless
by ayushi
Summary: "And now she was actually crying, and he was just standing there not being able to help again. He didn't know what he could say to make her feel better, because honestly, Takao felt like crying too." [TyHil, Oneshot]
**A/N:** Used their Japanese names, as I haven't written a TyHil for the past what 3 years? Their Jap names were the only thing that motivated me. Shichi-go-san is a Japanese festival where the kids that are 7, 5 and 3 year old respectively, dress up and visit shrines to pray.

 _Helpless_

Her cheeks were flushed with color as she studied her reflection in the mirror, her chocolate colored eyes were filled with adoration as she turned towards her mother, ready to swarm her with gratitude. After all today was the first time Hiromi felt pretty, it was the first time she understood what it meant to feel pretty. With her usually unruly dark brown hair pulled back in a tight bun, and the beautiful white kimono with a red and pink camellia pattern on it that her mother had dressed her in, Hiromi felt royal. Today was her last shichi-go-san festival and she couldn't have been happier with the result.

"Thank you so much, mama." The brunette beamed up at her mother who laughed in reply, taking the little girl by hand and twirling her around. Hiromi joined her mother in the laughter, the bubble of excitement in her chest growing bigger and bigger and she hoped that it wouldn't burst anytime soon.

As she walked around the small festival after visiting the shrine with her mother, she kept an eye out for her classmates. This was a small town after all so it wouldn't be a surprise if she ran into someone she didn't want her mother to meet. Perhaps seven was too early an age for the brunette to learn that things don't usually go according to plan in life, soon enough she heard the voice of the one person she'd avoid even after death.

"Woah! If it isn't the bookworm!"

Hiromi immediately felt the color return to her cheeks, but this time because of embarrassment. He'd called her by the nickname he'd given her, the one she hadn't told her mother about. She looked up at her mom first and noticed that she wasn't fazed by the boy's remark, breathing a quick sigh of relief Hiromi then turned her attention towards her classmate, fixing him with a glare.

It wasn't a surprise that the boy had come to the festival in plain clothes, she didn't know much about his parents except that they weren't around and his grandfather was gullible when it came to giving in into the boy's demands. He had his usual blue baseball cap on along with his usual wolf-like grin. She knew now that the bubble in her chest would deflate a little, because she would have to tell her mother the truth about her school life not being as happy as she always made it out to be. It's not like she didn't have any friends, most of her classmates liked her because she was smart and always read to help, and the others hated her for these exact same reasons. Kinomiya Takao was in the latter group, and he never failed to make fun of her. The worst part though, was when he did, even the ones who were supposed to be her friends would snicker in the background.

"What do you want Kinomiya-kun?"

"Hey, hey, don't look at me with those eyes. I'm not here to fight or anything." He replied jovially, not bothering to greet her mother, which Hiromi found annoying.

"Then why are you here?" She asked again, a little exasperated now, she let the glare dissolve.

"Well you know, I was playing over there and then suddenly-" he paused, his onyx eyes meeting her chocolate ones, "I saw a really pretty girl so I ran over here to check and it turned out to be you!"

It was the third time that Hiromi felt her cheeks go red, and instead of bursting, the bubble in her chest grew larger. She immediately avoided his gaze, looking down at the ground, confusion filling her head. This was the first nice thing Kinomiya Takao had ever said to her, and for some strange reason she had never felt this happy before. When she sneaked up a glance at her mother, she saw that the older woman was smiling gently, Takao on the other hand seemed like he was waiting for her to say something, but Hiromi was too stunned to speak.

"So anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you look really pretty, bookworm." The grin thinned down into a simple smile, and if Hiromi would have looked closely she would have noticed a similar red tint on his cheeks as well.

"Hiromi-chan, don't you have anything to say to your friend?" Her mother politely reminded her.

She firstly wanted to tell her mom that he wasn't really her friend and secondly, she should've sensed Hiromi's discomfort and run into the opposite direction instead of forcing her to make conversation with him.

"Thank you." She said quietly and looked up to see the grin return on his face as he shrugged in reply. The boy was about to turn and go back to where his friends were when her mother surprised them both by asking a dangerous question.

"Would you like to take a photo together?" She asked, holding up the small camera in her hand. Hiromi stared at her wide-eyed, about to refuse the proposal when Takao jumped up and down, nodding excitedly. Her mother shot the little girl a sly smile before moving aside to click the picture.

Takao was next to her in an instant, grinning as happily as ever as he made a victory sign. Hiromi on the other hand wished for the bubble to burst, because she surely wouldn't be able to handle her feelings if it grew any larger. She somehow managed to look at the camera, with an almost negligible smile on her face as she attempted to stop her cheeks from turning red.

-x-

Her hair had grown longer and recently she had stopped wearing it loose. Takao's heartbeat would start racing every time she absent-mindedly pulled up her, tying it into a tight bun, unaware of what her action did to the boy sitting across from her. It was when her hair was tied back, that he'd be able to get a good look at her face, and boy did he enjoy looking at that face. Even thinking about her now, made him giddy inside and he had to stop what he was doing, and lie down on his bed to contemplate for a while.

The last few days had brought about a tornado of bad news. The world was in danger, yet again, and it somehow all rotated back to the sacred bit-beasts that him and his teammates possessed. This time though, surprisingly it had been his father who warned them of the forthcoming disaster. Takao hadn't heard from his father in a while when he showed up at the doorstep last week, demanding that they needed to undergo extremely difficult and special training in a secluded top-secret area for a period of six months, in order to stand against the new threat. It was needless to say that after hearing all this, Takao had been pissed.

The others were also a little peeved, but after listening to Kinomiya senior they all agreed to partake in the special training. The catch was of course, that only the people holding the sacred bit-beasts would be allowed to go for the training, meaning that Chief and Hiromi would be left behind. This was something that was unacceptable to the boys as the other two were an integral part of the team as well and after immense discussion, his father allowed for Chief to be there to witness the training but he wouldn't let Hiromi come. The whole team tried relentlessly to convince the older Kinomiya, even Kai who attempted to make rational arguments that Takao's father shouldn't have been able to reject, but nothing was able to convince his father to change his decision and after a while, it was Hiromi who asked them to stop arguing, accepting modestly to stay behind and not become a hindrance.

Takao had hated himself at that moment, for not being able to stand up for her, for not being able to explain to his father that she was their teammate too, for not being able to tell her that she wasn't a hindrance. Staring at the ceiling of his room, he wished for the first time that he wasn't the strongest blader out there, because he just couldn't stand the thought of being apart from her for six months. Max had chuckled when Takao told him this and the blond had said that this was puberty was supposed to feel like. Of course, the blue haired teen didn't understand that so he ignored the comment, worrying more about the pain in his chest.

There was a knock on his door and he sat up immediately, if it was Kai on the other side of the door the Takao was as good as dead because he'd told the captain that he had finished packing days ago. He gulped as the door opened and was just about to quickly throw his half-packed bag under the bed, when he saw Hiromi standing at the entrance, not bothering to enter the room. He noticed that she looked sad, but despite that she was smiling at him, her eyes moved on to the open bag on his bed and she rolled her eyes at its state.

"So I assume you weren't done with your packing days ago?" She said.

"Well I'm almost done now." He replied, getting up from his bed.

"Oh please, just sit down. I know you've probably just thrown everything inside randomly." She muttered, as she entered his room to inspect the bag and she sighed as she looked it over. Takao didn't move and quietly watched her re-pack his stuff, in a much more organized manner. He noticed that all signs of the earlier smile had now disappeared from the brunette's face and before he could stop himself, the words flew out.

"I thought you'd be more happy."

Hiromi paused to look up at him inquisitively, "Happy about what?"

"About not having to deal with me for six months…"

She folded the jacket she was holding neatly and tucked it into the bag, Takao thought that he had made her angry and he regretted opening his mouth in the first place.

"You know, I thought I'd be happy too…" Her hands were shaking as she picked up his gloves, and her voice was on the verge of breaking, Takao grit his teeth and clenched his fists tightly as he watched the first tear roll down her cheeks, and then another and another, "but six months is a really long time, Takao." And now she was actually crying, and he was just standing there not being able to help again.

He didn't know what he could say to make her feel better, because honestly, Takao felt like crying too. It was unfair how they had to be the ones to always sacrifice their daily lives in order to do the right thing, it was unfair how his father wouldn't accept Hiromi as a part of their team, it was unfair how much she was making his chest ache by standing in his room and crying, crying _for_ him, because _of_ him.

And then suddenly she dropped his gloves and in an instant she was across the room, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck as she buried her face into his chest, sobbing quietly. At first, Takao froze, this wasn't the first time Hiromi had hugged him, but the previous hugs had always usually been congratulations hugs and never lasted for more than a few seconds, unlike this one, which was filled with hurt and tears and it didn't seem like she would let him go soon. He decided to slowly put his arms around her waist, and the moment he touched her, her grip around him tightened.

" _Please don't go."_ She whispered between sobs.

"I have to."

" _I'll miss you so much."_

"Me too. I'll miss you a lot too."

" _I'll be so lonely, at least you'll have the other guys-"_

"No. Without you, I'll be lonely too."

" _Then don't go."_

He pulled her in closer, her face now resting on his shoulder. Takao had always thought that one day he would lose Hiromi because he could never be good enough for her, he thought he'd lose her to some perfect boy who'd read all her favorite novels. But lately he'd come to realize that there was a chance that she might not leave his side, because the happiness that lit up her face when he was around was an effect only he was capable of causing. And he had been trying hard to keep her happy, surprisingly he always knew how to make her laugh and every time she chuckled at one of his jokes, he'd feel a proud feeling rise up inside him. And now ironically, he was making her cry endlessly because he was leaving her.

Takao wished that he could be seven years old again and speak his mind as freely as he'd used to, he wished he could form his sentences as carelessly as he'd used to. He wished he could tell her how he felt as easily as he had told her that he thought she was pretty back then, but alas, the moment he opened his mouth to speak, he felt a knot in his throat and he knew that was on the verge of breaking down too. Takao couldn't let that happen, he had to be strong for both of them. Swallowing hard, he murmured "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Hiromi."

" _Takao, I lo…"_

She paused and he stood still his mind buzzing with the possibilities of what the brunette was about to tell him. Raising her head, she directly whispered into his ear, _"I'll wait for you."_

-x-

 **A/N:** Reviews are always appreciated.


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